Cape Town - Airbnb bookings peak over the spring and summer months, so if you have a spare room or want to rent out your entire house while you are travelling yourself, spruce it up and join the hosting community of Airbnb.
Or do you have your eyes on the Superhost badge? Even if you are an Airbnb host already, there are always ways to make guests fall in love with your home even harder.
Here are some tips on how to make your listing pop this summer.
When your guest walks into your Airbnb’s listing, make sure that the first impression is a good one and appeals to all five senses:
1. Visual
Yellow, orange, green and blue are the interior colour trends. You don’t have to redo the whole space – just introduce elements, such as cushions, a lick of paint to one wall. You will be amazed at the difference it makes.
2. Smell
Introduce fresh flowers into the space – but make sure they won’t cause allergies. Flowers to avoid include daisies, goldenrod, chamomile and sunflowers which are among the worst for allergy sufferers. Flowers that are allergy friendly are begonia, daffodils, hydrangea, roses and tulips.
3. Taste
Tantalise your guests’ taste buds and introduce a bowl of fresh seasonal fruit in the kitchen area.
4. Sound
Music is food for the soul, play tranquil music softly in the background of a common area
5. Touch
Ensure you have everyone’s favourite, a - soft to the touch - blanket to take away the evening chill, after a day out in the sun.
A photo posted by Christine Meintjes | Cape Town (@cmeintjes) on Aug 28, 2016 at 1:21am PDT
Spring cleaning tips for Airbnb hosts:
1. Make sure your listing is always clean and tidy. There is no better time than spring to clean your linen, curtains, carpets and furniture in preparation for the summer months. Don’t forget that guests get to rate the cleanliness of your listing.
A photo posted by Marc Buckner (@marcbuckner) on Feb 23, 2016 at 10:56am PST
2. As a host, you can charge a cleaning fee, so offer a serviced listing and free up more downtime for your guest.
Adapted from a press release for IOL